caterwauls are my screams in the night from the back fence,
aimed at the inequitable situations in our present society and the ridiculousness of life's paths........
With a little silliness too . . . for sanity.

Saturday, February 25, 2006

They are saying the NHL might not participate in the Olympics after 2010 in Vancouver. Hmmm, why wait that long to bow out? Go now. They can easily be replaced by Canadian competitors who WANT medals, our wonderful women!When you see the picture of Clara Hughes lying on the ice completely winded after her Gold Medal skate, you see someone who gave all she had for her country. Those are the kind of competitors we want, win or lose.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

The tragedy of Fanny Albo needs to be brought into the light of scrutiny.91 year old Fanny Albo died just days after being separated from her 97 year old husband, Al, at the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital. The couple had been married for almost 70 years. This story is enough to bring tears to a compassionate person.SOMEONE made the decision to remove Fanny from her home care facility.SOMEONE knew they were separating an elderly man and wife.SOMEONE actually wheeled Fanny out of her home to take her away to another care center.SOMEONE didn't even allow Al to hold her hand or comfort her before she left.It is time we learned the identity of these uncaring people. They do not deserve to work in a health care system!This is how the Liberal Government under Gordon Campbell started out. They weathered that earlier furor over separating old people and closing their care facilities, in effect, casting them out of their homes. Was the money to keep this man and wife together too much for these merciless people? Did they think they were making points with the government by doing this?We need to know WHO made the decision. We need to know WHY it was made. We need to know WHO actually went there to get Fanny. We need to know WHY they ignored Al Albo.

This is a BC Liberal government with a priority on ecomonic issues that shows continual contempt for the people of BC. Gordon Campbell's policies have caused old people to be treated like discards. We shouldn't allow the people who did this heinous act to remain faceless. SOMEONE needs to account for it. We can't let the story die all over again. Letting Fanny Albo die was enough.More than Al Albo are crying tonight.

UPDATE: People from the Interior Health Care met in Victoria to discuss the sadness of this case. (Al Albo has died within two weeks of seeing his wife die alone in a strange place) It looks like a bunch of rhetoric to avoid blame to me; telling us they're going to put more money in. (They took it away in the first place) That it shouldn't happen again. etc etc. Same old protecting the guilty parties. These parties need to be NAMED! And FIRED! These are not the kind of people that should be looking after the elderly! They should have a new policy of having NOTHING happening regarding the movement, care or interests of people in these facilities without PAPERWORK on everything. NO phone calls. NO MIScommunications. NO slipping away from blame later! ALL workers should do NOTHING without paperwork that can be traced to the original orders relating to the person in care.Again, SOMEONE made the terribly UNcaring decision to move this woman away from her husband of 70 years and that person needs to account for it!

UPDATE 2: When questioned recently by Christie Clark on the Bill Good show about this incident and who took part in the decision to move Fanny, Health Minister George Abbott went into a rhetoric about not having enough nurses and doctors and other good people in the Health Services, saying in effect that the ministry is willing to accept BAD people working in health care? Deputy Minister Penny Ballem, who did the investigation also commented that certain people were not available to her for inquiries. Mr. Abbott seemed to say it was alright because he HAD talked to 'other' higher ups. Perhaps it is time to call for a coroner's inquest, where people are forced in a court to testify instead of hiding until it blows over.Seems that the cover up for these bad decisions is working just fine. Sad isn't it?Wouldn't we just like to know WHO decided this tragedy?

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Here's what David Emerson is going to do - He's going to go and negotiate with the Americans on the softwood lumber deal. Then he's going to come back and announce that we got a great deal, they got our five billion dollars and try to sell his 'deal' to us.

Here's what Emerson doesn't seem to get - The Americans have been waiting for us to negotiate a SEPARATE deal from NAFTA all along. It is exactly what they want, because they cannot play by the established rules. Here's what the public doesn't seem to get - There is no need to negotiate DOWNWARD from a deal that we already have and win every time in the world court.

So by David Emerson having no mandate from the voters, he is going to single-handedly destroy everything we have with NAFTA regarding lumber when all we have to do is hold the USA to the deal THEY signed. They need to honour their contracts. There is a time we need the guts to stand up for what is right. No matter how it hurts us in the short term. There ARE many other markets out there and we needn't take the easy way at the detriment of the Canadian lumber industry.In spite of what is being said by some, Emerson is NOT the man for the job. The attitude of Canada should be that we are right and we'll hold to our principals. Any negotiation defeats the purpose of future treaties as well if we cannot trust in them.No one believes Emerson shares our principals.

Friday, February 17, 2006

An NBA player for the Portland Trailblazers got on a plane in Boston the other day and a loaded gun fell out of his luggage. Sebastian Telfair said it was his girlfriend's gun. Maybe he needed the gun against his team-mates as he only scored 2 points in his last game. The flight was destined for Toronto.

The Massachusetts Port Authority said no charges would be laid.I guess Homeland Security selectively decides the seriousness of guns on planes in the USA.Basketball players must be exempt.

[Tip to the RCMP who are worried about the massive smuggling of guns into Canada. Pssst! Check out the NBA luggage]

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Prime Minister Harper has appointed Michael Wilson ambassador to the U.S. They say this is a good thing because Wilson was one of the architects of the Free Trade Agreement in the Brian (crook) Mulroney cabinet. Hmmm, 73% of Canadians think that agreement has no effect whatsoever on them. Wilson will be the man to solve the softwood lumber dispute, they say. Seems we've already solved that to me, we've won every argument in the international arena because we're right. Of course America only wants a separate treaty outside of the NAFTA because they can't compete, that's what they've wanted all along. Look for Wildon to give them what they want and watch everyone laud him for giving in.

Michael Wilson was also finance minister for Mularkey, er Mulroney, the same job Paul Martin had with Jean Chretien. The same job where Brian became one of the richest men in Canada and Wilson doesn't know where the money came from. The only difference is Martin didn't know where the money went. Wilson also gave us the 7 percent goods & services tax.Everything's right on track with the government of Canada against the people of Canada.Ho hum, same old same old.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Dick Cheney, US Vice President, recently shot his quail hunting pal, Harry Whittington. nearly killing him. (And yet still might as he has had a heart attack while undergoing treatment for his buckshot wounds.) This was all kept nice and quiet from the American media until they were good and ready to talk about it.

The only questions remaining are whether Cheney needs be charged for of shooting him; whether he needs better glasses for missing him; or whether Whittington knew something he shouldn't?

The redeeming factor seems to be the fact that Whittington is a lawyer.

A TV documentary is aired where Brian Mulroney is said to have gotten a $300,000.00 'payment' from Karlheinz Schreiber out of a secret Swiss bank account. Some would use the word bribe of course. This is part of a (hopefully) ongoing investigation into the Airbus scandal. Mr. Schreiber is also reported to be willing to tell where $10,000,000.00 (that's 10 million) dollars went and who got what portions of it. This of course keeps Brian Mulroney on top, in some opinions, of being the biggest crook Canada ever had, and staying ahead of Jean Chretien. Um ...... so far.The real question is why the Canadian media refuses to consider this a newsworthy story.

Friday, February 10, 2006

A lot of the knuckle-dragging 'fans' are complaining about the new NHL rules where you cannot assualt with intent to maim any more. These throwbacks to King Kong's ancestors only go for the fights and the blood and bruises. When someone gets knocked out for a few months from a cross check or a slash to the hands, they regard these players as wimps. Their ideal NHL is WWW RAW, or Arnie Shwarzenegger blast 'em to smithereens hockey. They are bullies who love beating up the little guy. They should go off to those caged fights where there's lots of blood. (Even those guys are wimpy because you can't kick a guy in the nuts)The clutch and grab is leaving NHL hockey, and for the better. No one pays to see it. We pay for a Gretski fake, or Pavel Bure slicing into the slot. We pay to see Mike Bossy's hands, Bobby Hull's slap shot, Bobby Orr's skating, Phil Esposito's quick stick and Serge Savard's spinnerama twists and turns. The new young players coming up in the NHL deserve a chance to show us their chops without being tackled or hooked every time they touch the puck.I don't think it is a 'no touch' zone in front of the net, it is simply a 'no cross-checking with intent to kill' in front of the net. If a checker wants to knock a guy down that's still ok, but he can't do it with a vicious stick cross check, or by tripping or hooking with the stick or straight assault!The trick of course is what a lot need to learn, get position and shove the guy away, with hands or shoulders. Look at the games where someone IS in front of the net, they still take a lot of punishment that doesn't have to be career ending. It's all a learning process for everyone. I prefer the speed, finess and yes, rough play of international hockey that doesn't need to have lesser players control the skill players with clutch and grab.Who can deny that the Canada - Russia series were the finest hockey games ever played? And once we learned that Russian players were no wimps but punishingly hard and effective checkers that complemented their skill and work ethic we were in for our greatest challenge ever. We won because our skill players also had toughness, and smarts!The smarts part is what a lot of defencemen today and others don't always have in the new NHL.They need to learn or leave for the betterment of the game.I like the fastest game on ice, the new NHL.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

So, aside from what the real truth is, and what is yet to come out about the NHL gambling story, let's look at some ideas of what COULD have happened. Lots of people say let 'em gamble! What's that hurting? It's only a bet. Well ....

Theory: Anything to do with gambling coming out of New Jersey is mafia oriented. Those two patrol cops are just front guys.Rumour: Jaromir Jagr gambled over $500,000.00 dollars while at Pittsburg.Speculation: Could he have bet on his own team to lose? Then engineered it by playing poorly?

Theory: You don't have to 'throw the game', nor does anyone much have the power to do so ... BUT, you CAN 'shave' points.Rumour: Jaromir COULD have just missed the net with his own shots on a given night, and he COULD have made his passes to Mario Lemieux just a little off.Speculation: That's why Mario Lemieux publically criticized Jagr for not playing up to his best in that last year before Jagr got traded.

Theory: Gambling on sports can't hurt anything really.Rumour: When the mafia has you as a professional athlete into them for hundreds of thousands of dollars, they'll tell YOU who's going to win the next game and what the score will be.Speculation: What if it's MY team that lost the big one by 4 points? Not because of honest losing effort, but because someone was 'in for the fix'?

[This is total speculation on an imagined situation. No reflections on Mario Lemieux or Jaromir Jagr, only a theory of what COULD happen when gambling becomes intricately involved in professional sports.]

Watch out for guys in black shirts and white ties around the dressing room, they're not the team trainers.

Monday, February 06, 2006

I guess we shouldn't have expected it. I guess we should no longer expect it from anyone. Doesn't it make you wonder where the morality of politics are though? Didn't David Emerson believe in the Liberals when he was running? If not why did he run for them? No integrity.Then he got in as a Liberal after many people helped him. Again. He deserted those people before their campaign office seats were cold. Integrity?The spin is that Emerson will be great for BC because he has a background in big business, head of Canfor. Powerful. Hmm, not influential or powerful enough to thwart the softwood lumber issue. Sorry but business ethics are about as far from integrity as one gets.We all thought David Anderson would look out for us Westerners too. He allowed the destruction of our wild salmon fishery without so much as a whimper into his beard! Remember Edward McWhinney? The professor with a huge list of letters after his name? So respected as a parliamentarian BEFORE he got elected, then treated us like bedbugs once he got to Ottawa. His integrity got flushed off the plane on the way.The NDP wants a rule that if you are going to cross the floor you have to call a byelection and run again for your new party. Cross the floor? Emerson hasn't even been ON the floor yet in this parliament! He's not doing it for the prestige or money, David Shreck argues, he's a dedicated servant. Sure, dedicated to power, one of the underlying stealth tenets of politics. The allure.

Well there IS hope yet ... the Liberal turncoat will be in charge of the 2010 Olympics. He might win over a few if he can shut down the Gordon Campbell overspending frenzy.

But beware, any politician who is seduced by the enticing siren of power needs to be watched. More corruption looms in David Emerson's shadows.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

The US is about to start a new patrol along their border with Canada at Saskatchewan, Alberta and Montana, Blackhawk Helicopters and planes will patrol to watch for terrorists, drug runners and illegal immigrants. Using Sept 11 as their excuse. (again)I suppose the Minutemen will camp out along the 49th parallel too, just to 'help out if needed', like they are doing in BC near Bellingham. Of course, Sept 11 has allowed them to read every email and fax you send, listen to every call you make, and investigate whomever they want without legal search warrants.Why don't they just build the wall that Pat Buchanan promised a few years ago? I think Americans are still getting out.Coming soon to a border near you, 'Top Gun' and 'Men in Black', just make sure you shave clean, don't puff anything and say nothing in Spanish.

Our economy in BC is doing great. Gordon Cambell and his Liberals keep telling us. We've turned it around from the ba-a-d NDP, BC is now leading the world in economical progress! Everything is wonderful here. Hmmm.But wait, we are going to get TOLLS on the new Port Mann bridge. Two dollars and fifty cents each way! We are going to get TOLLS on the new Golden Ears bridge. We are going to get TOLLS on the Richmond circle road. We are going to get TOLLS on Highway #1 between Coquitlam and Langley.We haven't had tolls on BC bridges since W.A.C. Bennett abolished them on the Lions Gate bridge! That was way back in 1963!

ICBC is going to raise our insurance rates by nearly 7% in spite of the huge surplus the corporation usually shows, an average $38.00 each, the NDP held the line on insurance rates. The suspicion is that Gordon wants the rates higher so his private insurance company buddies can compete.We are about to implement off shore oil drilling, in spite of environmental concerns. In spite of the freeze the NDP put on it.The Olympic program is so far mismanaged over budget the Liberals won't even tell us what it is!The Fast Ferries are about to be reincarnated as competition to BC Ferries!

It seems to me that the Liberals are still trying to blame the NDP for everything financial but one must consider that any over-costs of NDP management were from programs aimed to benefit the PEOPLE of BC. The problems with money management of the Liberals are because they are catering to rich shareholders who may be in any other country BUT BC.Methinks Gordon Campbell's economy might be doing great, but the people of the province are about to be hit hard again to allow it. When does a government start working on behalf of the people instead of against them?It looks like a duck to me.

UPDATE: Kevin Falcon now says the tolls will be $2.50 each way in 2005 dollars on the new Port Mann twin. So expect more like TEN dollars each way once the bridge is completed in 2013! And the way they'll collect this toll money is by a transponder in your windshield. No mention of who PAYS for this high tech, or that they'll be able to keep track of exactly WHO crosses that bridge and when.

UPDATE2: Shame on Kevin Falcon for constantly using W.A.C. Bennett's name while double-talking us! Mr Falcon needs to know that WAC Bennett built this province for British Columbians! He used British Columbians' skills and expertise in everything he did. He was a Social Crediter, NOT a Liberal. Gordon Cambell turns his back on British Columbians at every opportunity and is dismantling all of WAC Bennett's proud province. Falcon trying to sneakily attach Gordon Campbell onto WAC's long gone coat-tails is ridiculous and repugnant.To paraphrase a famous comment: 'We knew WAC Bennett, We worked with WAC Bennett, you're no WAC Bennett.'